あらすじ
創価学会のアメリカ布教について宗教社会学の見地から分析を行った研究である。日本の創価学会が文化も宗教も大きく異なるアメリカ合衆国で、なぜアメリカ人に受け入れられ、アメリカ社会に根付くようになったのだろうか。日本と異なる文化にあって、日本型の組織はどのように変容したのか。教えや思想はどのように翻訳され、現地化したのか。アメリカの人々は、なぜ・どのように・何を願って、信仰を続けているのか。15回のアメリカ訪問によって、現地での行事に参加するとともに、70人以上のアメリカSGI（Soka Gakkai International）メンバーにインタビューを行った調査からこれらの問いにライフヒストリー、回心論、組織論、異文化翻訳といった宗教社会学の観点から明らかにした。『アメリカ創価学会における異体同心』（2018年、新曜社）の英訳版。
The Soka Gakkai is the most well-known and the largest of new religious movements (NRMs) in Japan. This book analyzes the Soka Gakkai’s evangelizing in the United States from a sociological perspective of religion. How did the Japanese Soka Gakkai come to be accepted by Americans and take root in American society in the United States, a country with a very different culture and religion? How did a Japanese-style organization transform itself into a culture so different from Japan’s? How were the teachings and concepts translated and localized? Why, how, and for what purpose do the members of the U.S. continue their faith? The authors’ 15 visits to the U.S., in which they participated in local events of the organization and interviewed more than 70 Soka Gakkai International members in the U.S., revealed these questions from the perspective of the sociology of religion, using life history method, conversion theory…
Contents
Preface
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER The History of SGI-USA
1. War brides and second-generation Japanese Americans
2. Transformation from hippie to happy
3. Conventions
4. Phase Two
5. Cultural differences
6. A seventeen-day stay in Los Angeles
7. Toward further development in the 21st century
CHAPTER 1 Nichiren Buddhism in the USA
1. “Many in body, one in mind” in multi-ethnic society
2. The enlightenment of women in the 21st century
CHAPTER 2 Joining and converting to SGI-USA
1. Availability and openness to join SGI
2. People’s situation when joining SGI
3. Spiritual inquiry and a life crisis
4. The appeals of SGI’s Buddhist practice and the membership retention
5. Shift from benefit-oriented seekers to altruistic believers as taught in Mahayana Buddhism
CHAPTER 3 Americanization of the organizational structure
1. Organizational development in the 1960s and beyond
2. Phase Two and structural changes
3. From a vertical structure to a horizontal structure: Geographical reorganization (Geo-Reo)
CHAPTER 4 Two stages of Americanization: Revisiting the importance of English translation
1. Anglicization and Phase Two
2. Four categories of translation
3. A shift from ‘Japanese’ English to more natural English expressions
4. Two stages of anglicization
CHAPTER 5 The oneness of mentor and disciple in America
1. Inheritance of teachings
2. English translation
3. The oneness of mentor and disciple: What it means for SGI-USA members
4. Servant Leadership
Afterword
Chronology
References
Index
